Durham, NC - After nearly five years away, Whitney Dunlap returned to a job at Duke - the place where she went to school and spent her first years in the post-graduate workforce.

She left in 2004 to pursue a career in film and television, working in casting and as a production assistant in North Carolina and Los Angeles. However, the long days and instability of the industry wasn't what she ultimately wanted. She briefly worked at UCLA before a job opened up at Duke.

"Being at Duke had been the best work experience I'd ever had and it was a place I knew I loved and wanted to be," said Dunlap, now the director of special events for Duke Athletics. "I knew coming back to Duke meant coming back to a place that was a better way of life."

She's not alone. In 2011, several hundred faculty and staff members returned to Duke - and many cite relationships with coworkers, familiarity with the institution and benefits as reasons for a return.

Duke's total compensation package - everything from pay to retirement plans - drew many back to Duke. Last year, Duke invested about $1.9 billion in direct pay to faculty and staff. In addition, the university spent about $452 million to maintain benefits such as health insurance, educational assistance and retirement plans.

"Duke has been recognized over the years as a best employer by various organizations, and our benefits package consistently stands out among other employers," said Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for administration. "But the true value is the recognition of employees who find Duke to be the type of place where they want to invest their efforts and energy."

For Nancy Hillsman, Duke has been the only place she's worked since 1987, despite leaving twice for a three- and six-year break for the birth of her two children. Hillsman has been with University Development since 2001 - her third overall tenure at Duke.

"There's an exciting level of intellectual stimulation that comes from being in a university setting," said Hillsman, research and stewardship coordinator for Corporate and Foundation Relations. "Plus, I've always appreciated the benefits. I carry the health care benefits for my family, and we've used the children's tuition benefit. I'm using the employee tuition benefit myself for a master's program."

Even though Diana Adkins spent nearly 25 years away from Duke, she always knew where she wanted to be. Adkins graduated from radiology school at Duke in 1963 and worked in the Duke University Health System until 1965, when she moved with her husband to Goldsboro and eventually Connecticut. She continued to work in healthcare and when she moved back to Durham in 1988, she believed there was only one option.

"I thought to myself, 'you might as well go back to where you started,'" Adkins said. "I looked in the paper and there was a position open for a radiologic technologist, and I felt that must be telling me something."

Adkins is now a senior radiologic technologist with Occupational and Environmental Medicine and couldn't be happier to still be at Duke.

"I've always felt Duke was such a special place to be because of the people and its reputation," she said. "In other peoples' eyes, I think they admire the fact you work at Duke."